In 1989 he attended a year-long course in Electronic Music Recording at Clydebank Technical College, writing his first two unpublished novels when the course ended (Francis' Point and The Bleach Field).

Together they played in two early bands (Lisa Helps The Blind and Rhode Island) before forming Belle and Sebastian to make a single for the Stow College label Electric Honey.

[6] David made four albums with Belle and Sebastian (Tigermilk, If You're Feeling Sinister, The Boy With The Arab Strap, and Fold Your Hands Child, You Walk Like a Peasant) and a series of four EPs (Dog on Wheels, Lazy Line Painter Jane, 3.. 6.. 9..

He was responsible for establishing the band's initial web presence, building their first website in 1996, and he wrote the songs "Winter Wooskie", "A Space Boy Dream", "Paper Boat" and "A Century of Elvis".

[6] Looper initially began as a side-project to Belle and Sebastian, a place for David to further explore the spoken-word style he had developed in the songs "A Century of Elvis" and "A Spaceboy Dream".

[9][12] The Guardian added "Nalda Said is a stunning insight into reclusion, a sideways glance at conservatism and an allegory of the way the business world treats art...It's a fabulous novel.